Reunion Resort has hundreds of luxurious vacation homes to choose from, but you could count on one hand the number of megamansions with their own private bowling alley. One on Muirfield Loop is on the market for $12.5 million, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.
Read more Public payments, private profits: A half-century of methadone in America
“The house has a basement, which is quite unique here in Florida, as you can imagine, with us being so close to the sea level,” said listing agent Olliver Rodeblad Lowe with Douglas Elliman. “It’s actually fully underground. It has a full-size two-lane bowling alley, golf simulator, gym, movie theater, and arcade room. All that stuff is in the basement so it’s nice to keep it quiet in the house while you’re down there playing.”
Creating the basement area was a challenge for architect Mark Nasrallah and Landmark Custom Builder & Remodeling when they built the home in 2017 for the current sellers. Rodeblad Lowe said bowling alleys are typically long, windowless corridors that look ugly from the outside.
“Their solution to it was to put it below and the house looks absolutely amazing from the outside and inside,” he said. “[The basement] is one of the big features of the home and you’re not going to come across one in a lot of other homes.”
The 15,239-square-foot home on .44 acres is being sold fully furnished.
“It’s such a such a unique home. I haven’t seen anything like it really. Very grand,” Rodeblad Lowe told GrowthSpotter. “You have everything in the home that you can think about as far as entertainment but it’s just so well planned out that it just feels like a very nice, normal luxury home.”
There are 13 bedrooms, each with a full bathroom and walk-in closet, including three primary suites. There’s room to sleep 32 people comfortably and one of the kids’ rooms is hidden.
“There’s a decked-out Harry Potter room with bunk beds that will sleep a bunch of kids,” he said. “It’s [behind] a hidden bookcase, so when it’s closed, it doesn’t look like anything, just like a bookcase. And then you slide it open, and you walk into Hogwarts.”
Rodeblad Lowe said the minimal theming is intentional to make the place feel more homey and grand.
“You walk into some of these [themed] homes, and it just doesn’t feel right. It feels like you’re on vacation, but this feels like a home. That’s probably what I like the most about it.”
Read more Addiction in America: ‘Make recovery more accessible than the illicit drug supply’
When you include the outdoor spaces, the house is more than 20,000 square feet with Restoration Hardware furnishings throughout.
“It’s a very, very big home; however, it doesn’t really feel that way. A lot of homes you walk into that are this size, they just overwhelm you with grandness and space where it doesn’t really feel like a home,” Rodeblad Lowe said. “This house does not do that. It still feels very, very well-planned and feels like a nice home still, but you obviously still have that size.”
The sellers are foreign nationals who have used the home many times over the years as a retreat for friends and family, but just aren’t traveling to the U.S. as often.
“I think the perfect buyer is someone like them that comes to Central Florida a few times a year. They want a very nice home that can live up to the caliber of buyer they are as far as design and all of that, but can also sleep a large family,” he explained. “But when they’re not there visiting, it doesn’t stand there and collect dust.”
The home is also a popular rental, going for about $4,000 to $5,000 a night.
“I think if you were to operate it solely as a rental and basically not be there, I think it can bring over a million dollars a year in revenue,” Rodeblad Lowe said, adding the home includes a membership to Reunion Resort and everything it offers, including golf, tennis and access to a 5-acre water park.
The home is built for entertaining, with a game room, billards lounge, a movie theater and a resort-style pool. (Photo by Coastal Luxury Image)
The home is built for entertaining, with a game room, billards lounge, a movie theater and a resort-style pool. (Photo by Coastal Luxury Image)
Outdoor entertaining spaces include multiple terraces and a covered lanai with a fully equipped summer kitchen. (Photo by Coastal Luxury Image)
The listing includes a Reunion Resort membership, which allows access to the water park and other amenities. (Photo by Coastal Luxury Image)
“It’s generating extraordinary rental revenues, so I think that the perfect buyer is someone that wants to enjoy it a few times a year and when they don’t, they don’t want to bleed money out of their pocket. They still want to be able to pay for the home and have it rented out.”
The home has been on the market for about 100 days.
“That’s definitely not a long time for a home like this. A lot of buyers of this caliber might not spend the summers in Central Florida,” he explained. “There has been a lot of interest. It’s a matter of time before the right buyer comes through.”
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at [email protected] or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Read more Editorial: Stars and Stripes paper the latest casualty of ‘friendly’ fire